Good Ridance Shampoo
by Kawahara Hikori
Summary: Shampoo finally had enough and took matters into her own hands. But not before Ranma stopped her. Did her actions ruin Ranma and Akane's relationship or did the two become stronger after the incident. R&A! R&R! Rated T for dramatic themes. R&R please!


Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. They are from the brilliant mind of Rumiko Takahashi.

Sunlight poured through the curtains on a lovely Saturday morning and awoke a girl out of her sleep. Akane Tendo rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly, groggily sitting up. She looked over at her clock which read 6:30. "Kami, is it that time all ready?" she mumbled before falling back onto her bed. She rolled around on her bed for a few moments before stretching and finally getting up. She walked over to her drawer and reached for a pair of shorts and tank top, but stopped in mid-reach. "Damn," she thought to herself, suddenly remembering the time. "I woke up too late. I don't have time to run." She sighed and reached for her school uniform instead. "I guess I should go take a bath."

She opened her door and left her room, starting down the stairs, her steps making a light creak as she went from one step to the next. Stepping off the last step, she changed direction and headed towards the furo, but stopped as she heard a shout. "What in the-" Akane tiptoed over to the dojo and silently opened the sliding door, and shook her head at the boy she saw inside. She walked in and set her clothes on the floor, and waited for him to stop his kata. Her eyes roamed over his sculpted body covered only with a wife beater and a pair of his Chinese pants. He glided through his kata, which was calm and mellow. Not one of his usual fast paced ones, comprised of several punches and kicks. She watched his arms gracefully flow through the motions, slowly coming to a close. When he finally stopped, she was breath taken at the beauty of the art he displayed. ."Ranma," she softly called out.

He whirled around, his blue eyes widening. "Akane! Kami! You scared me!" he said, startled. "I didn't even hear you come in."

"Yeah, well, my training teacher has been good for me," she said with a wink, as she walked up to him.

He grinned. "What can I say? I am the Best after all," he said, puffing out his chest.

Akane rolled her eyes and smiled. "You and your ego." She swatted him playfully.

"Ow! Why do you have to be so abusive?" he asked, faking pain.

"Aww… you know you love it…"

"Yes I do. So… what are you doing up?"

"What do you mean, what am I doing up?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the black haired, blue-eyed boy in front of her.

"Well, nothing," Ranma answered, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "I just figured you would sleep in today. I mean, we don't have school, and after everything that happened last night…"

Akane groaned. "Oh yeah… last night. How could I forget?" she thought as her mind turned to the previous night's events.

_Akane sat gagged and tied down to a chair. Her eyes were wide with fear, and tears streamed down her face. Bruises marred her fair complexion and blood trailed down the side of her face. She moaned quietly from pain and winced as her attacker punched her again in the stomach. Nausea hit her sharply and she coughed up blood. "Shampoo…" she said weakly, desperately trying to escape from the abuse._

_"Shut up, kitchen destroyer," Shampoo hissed, before rearing her fist back and hitting Akane again, this time on her chest. Akane whimpered at the impact and slumped in her chair. "Ranma!" She yelled in her mind. "Please. Help me. Please."_

_Shampoo stopped her physical abuse and walked to the back of the dark room, getting a glass of water. She watched as Akane struggled in vain from her bonds and laughed. She approached her slowly, taking a sip of her drink. "Pathetic," she said, shaking her head from the sight. "Shampoo see lions who fight better than this." Shampoo kneeled down next to her and trailed her finger down the side of Akane's cheek. "Too bad. Actually pretty cute." Shampoo whispered gently in Akane's ear. " But Shampoo have fun killing obstacle. Soon, Airen is Shampoo's. Akane will be no more." _

_Fear gripped Akane and she began anew at trying to break free from the chair. "Shampoo. Please. You can have him. Just. Don't kill me. Please," She pleaded._

_"Shampoo say quiet!!!!" Shampoo slapped her across her cheek, producing another wound. Blood dripped from Akane's mouth as Shampoo stood up again. She walked to the back of the room again and rummaged through a bag sitting on a desk. "Shampoo did everything for Airen," Shampoo said, beginning to rant. Shampoo cook for him. Shampoo be too too good friend to him. Shampoo help him. Shampoo love him, but did he want it? No! Ranma no want Shampoo. Now we shall see if he want Akane." She turned around and raised her hand._

_Akane's eyes widened as she looked down into the barrel of the gun Shampoo held in her hand. Tears quickly dropped from her eyes, running down her blood dressed cheeks. "Oh, Kami! No! Please! I don't want to die! I haven't told Ranma I love him!" she thought frantically._

_"Akane been good rival. Good obstacle. But Shampoo win in the end." Shampoo cocked her gun and aimed at Akane's head "Goodbye Akane."_

_"RANMA!!!!!!!" Akane screamed and closed her eyes as the gun exploded. _

_She waited for the bullet to hit, but it never came. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and saw Shampoo on the floor, dead. She moved her head up and looked into the blue eyes she had been waiting for. "Ranma,' she whispered, before succumbing to the darkness._

"Yeah. Last night was…. A nightmare." Akane said softly, looking down at the floor. "I was afraid you weren't going to come." She blinked and felt tears threatening to fall. She looked back up into his eyes. "Why did you kill her?"

Ranma stood there quietly for a moment, before responding. "Because," he croaked. He swallowed before continuing. "She was going to kill you. I couldn't let that happen. It was either you or her, and I would have picked her any day."

"But you didn't have to kill her."

"Yes I did," Ranma corrected, running his hands through his hair. "She wasn't going to stop. If I didn't kill her then, if I just stopped her, then she would have thought of another time and it would have kept continuing. I had to end it."

Akane shook her head. "But you don't know that Ranma."

"Yes, I did."

Akane stared at him warily. "How?"

Ranma took a deep breath and told her about the events before.

"_Airen!!!!" Shampoo cried happily, jumping off her bike and rushing up to Ranma, who was practicing in the dojo. She quickly glomped onto him._

_"Shampoo!!!!" Ranma shouted, surprised at her sudden appearance. "Get off of me!!!!" he yelled, trying to wriggle free from her grasp. "Damn it! Why do you have to be so persistent?!?!?!"_

_"Shampoo not persistent. Only affectionate." She purred, hugging him to her tighter._

_Ranma grimaced and struggled harder. "If Akane saw me like this, I would be dead," he thought, shivering from the memory of his fiancée's anger. "Kami, please don't let her see me." He grimaced again as he felt her hold grow stronger. His eyes flashed angrily as his patience wore thin. "Why doesn't she ever listen?" "I said GET OFF!!!!" he yelled, prying Shampoo away with his hands and pushing her off of him. _

_She fell to the floor with a thud, tears brimming around her eyes. She looked up at Ranma with wide eyes. "Airen. What wrong? What Shampoo do wrong?" she asked tearfully, sniffing a little from the pain._

"_What did you do? You didn't listen. You never do!" he shouted angrily._

_Shampoo cringed from his verbal onslaught and tears began to fall from her eyes. _

"_You always think I'm just a prize. Some boy toy for you. Well guess what? I'm tired of it. Now –" Ranma stopped in mid-sentence, a sudden feeling of guilt washing over him as he saw Shampoo crying on the dojo floor in front of him. "Aww… jeez. Shampoo…. Look….. I didn't mean it." He kneeled down gently beside her. "Shampoo..." he said quietly, softly touching her arm. _

_Shampoo jerked away from his touch. "Don't touch Shampoo." She hissed._

_Ranma looked at her confused, concern filling his eyes. _

"_Shampoo?" he asked gingerly._

"_Quiet!!" she yelled. Ranma immediately stiffened. "Airen said enough. No more talking. Shampoo heard enough. Airen never care about Shampoo. Only himself. And Shampoo tired of it!" She stood up and turned around to face him. Her eyes had gained a red glint and she started to advance toward him. _

_Ranma slowly began backing away from her, inching closer towards the wall. "Look… Shampoo… Let's not get too hasty. We can talk about this." He waved his hands in front of him and gulped at the sudden change of attitude._

"_Shampoo no want to talk. Shampoo had enough. Came to tell Airen that obstacle is gone, but Airen… no Ranma said truth. Shampoo leaving." Shampoo turned around and ran out the door, getting on her bike and pedaling away, leaving a baffled Ranma in her wake._

_Ranma stood in the road, blinking rapidly. "What in the world just happened? What did she mean 'Obstacle is gone'?" he thought, dazed. He shook his head and walked back inside the dojo, finishing his kata._

"By the time I realized what she meant, I was afraid I was too late. I rushed over to Nekohaten and Mouse came out yelling at me about hurting his 'darling Shampoo.' I just snapped. I picked him up by the throat and told him to give me a gun or else I would kill him right there and then. He decided to give me one, but not before he faced my fists." Ranma stopped and stared down at his hands and blinked, feeling unnoticed tears trail down his face. "I ran as fast as I could and when I got there I heard the words 'Goodbye Akane.' I panicked and shot her before she had a chance to shoot. And then, when she fell to the ground. I didn't care. All I could think about was you and if you were okay. And then… when I saw you…" Ranma stopped and looked down at the ground, crying freely.

Akane wiped her eyes that were filled with tears from the sincerity in his voice. "Ranma…" She drew closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. He returned the embrace, and wept quietly on her shoulder.

"Shhh… it's okay. You saved me. I'm here." Akane soothed, gently rocking back and forth as the two stood there in the silent dojo.

"I thought I lost you…." He whispered, burying his head further in the crook of her neck.

"You didn't. I'm here…. I'm here…"

They stood there for a few moments longer in each other's arms before finally pulling away.

"Thanks Akane," Ranma said, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "I needed that."

"Your welcome," Akane smiled and then grinned. "I bet your dad would have loved to see this."

Ranma snorted. "Yeah… I bet. 'Boy! What's this?'" he said, imitating his father. "Are you getting soft? Time for more training!"

Akane laughed. "Yeah… cause after all… men aren't supposed to cry."

Ranma shook his head. "The old fool doesn't know what he's talking about."

Akane giggled and sighed. With a stretch, she said, "Well. I better go take that bath now."

Ranma raised his eyebrows. "Bath?" he questioned.

Akane nodded. "Yeah. That's what I was about to do before I heard you in here." She replied, pointing to the clothes on the floor.

"Oh. Yeah. Well… you might want to get a different outfit. It would be a little weird wearing your school uniform all day without having to go."

"As if it would make a difference. You never wear yours."

Ranma rubbed his neck. "Well, you know me. The trouble maker."

Akane smiled. "Yeah. Just the way I like it."

A soft smile crept onto Ranma's face as he stared into Akane's brown eyes.

"You know Ranma…" she said seductively, walking backwards towards the door. "I could use a little company. You want to join me? It could be very … rejuvenating."

Ranma stared at her with wide eyes, gulping slightly at the sexy tone in her voice. "She doesn't really mean that does she?" he thought, silently shifting his feet.

"Oh and Ranma?"

"Um… Yeah?"

"You come and I'll let you wash my back."

Ranma grinned as he followed her out the door. Watching her movements as she walked in front of him, he smirked. "This is gonna be fun," he thought as he shut the door behind them, both headed towards the furo.

A/N: Well… Here's another Ranma 1/2 one-shot. More anguish in this and definitely a lot more drama. Please don't think I hate Shampoo. I don't. She's one of my favorite characters from Anime of all time. I just thought her actions and her death brought more drama to the story. Please read and review. Let me know what you think. I'd love to get constructive criticism. Was it too short? Was there not enough detail? Was the dialogue too much? Was the story actually believable? Please let me know so that my future work can be better. Thank you for reading.


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